Cue-tip holder



E. E. FOURNIER.

' CUETIP HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4. m9.

32,2 ,684 Patented Nov. 25, 1919.

EDMOND'E. roUnNIER; or. FALL IVE rrnssnonusn'rrs, essrenon or ONE-HALFT0 ARTI-IUBC. BODEAU, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

oun-"r'rr HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 25, 1919 Applicationfiled April 4., 1919. Serial No. 287,480.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itv known that I, EDMOND E. FOURNIER, of Fall River, in the county ofBristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain newanduseful Improvement in Cue- Tip Holders, of which improvement thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to means for detachably connecting tips to billiardand other cues, of the class or type exemplified in Letters Patent ofthe United States No. 1,182,160, granted and issued to me under date ofMay 9, 1916, upon the construction set forth in which patentmypresentinvention is an improvement. The obj ect of my invention is toprovide a one tip holder which will embody the features of practicaladvantage of that set forth in my Letters Patent No. 1,182,160aforesaid, and, in addition thereto, those of simplificationofstructure, increase of strength of the one end, and reduction in cost ofmanufacture.

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side view, in elevation, ofa portionof a billiard ou'e, adjoining its tip end, and an attached tip,in connection with which my invention is applied; Fig. 2, a longitudinalcentral'section, through the same; Fig. 3, a similar section through theferrule; Fig. 4, a transverse section through the ferrule, on the line aa of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a side view, in elevation, of the clamping spring;Fig. 6, an end view of the same, as seen from the right; Fig. 7, asimilar view, illustrating a structural modification; Fig. 8, alongitudinal central section, illustrating a structural modification ofthe ferrule; F ig. 9, a side view of the tip; and, Fig. 10, a similarview of a spring releasing key.

In the practice of my invention, referring descriptively to the specificembodiment thereof which is herein exemplified, the cue, 1, is turneddown at and adjoining its end to which the tip is to be attached, and aferrule, 2, is fitted on the reduced portion of the cue, and engagedtherewith by itnernal projections, 2*, near its inner end. The ferrule,2, comprises an inner and an outer shell, which shells are concentricand are connected at the inner end of the ferrule, which abuts againstthe shoulder formed on the one by turning it down. The inner shell,which is open at both ends, does not exceed,

in length, the reduced portion of the cue, in order to permit the innerend of the tip, 3, which is reduced in diameter, and is in the form ofan outwardly tapering or conical projection, 3, to'abut truly againstthe outer end thereof. It will be seen that by reason of the peripheralinclosure of the reduced end portion of the cue, by the inner shell ofthe ferrule, the end portion of the one is substantially strengthened,and the objectionable splitting thereof, which frequently occurs inprior constructions, will be effectually prevented. The outer shell ofthe ferrule is open at its outer end, and is ofs'ufficiently greaterlength than the inner shell to extendnearly to the nnreduced portion ofthe tip, or to even touch the same without exerting bearing thereon.Opposite lateral openings, 2'. are formed in the outer shell of theferrule, adjacent to the inner end thereof.

Thetip isdetaohably connected to the ferrule by a clamping spring, 4-,which is in the form of an open ended sleeve of resilient material,which is of longitudinally tapered or conical form, and islongitudinally split or divided, except at and. adjoining-one of itsends, at which it is providedL with opposite circumferential tongues orprojections, 4, adapted to engage the openings," 2", of the ferrule. Theopposite ends of the longitudinally separated portions of the clampingspring are provided with inwardly pro ecting prongs or teeth, 4*,adapted to engage the conical projection, 3, of the tip, and withoutwardly tapering prongs, P, adapted to bear on the outer shell of theferrule. As shown in Fig, 6, the faces of the prongs, 4:,

are curved concentrically with the ferrule and tip, and in Fig. 7, theyare fiat, extending parallel with diametral lines of the clampingspring. In the latter case, the pro j ection, 8 of the tip iscorrespondingly flat tened, and relative rotatorymovement of theclamping spring and tip is positively prevented.

In attaching the tip to the cue, the projection, 3*, of the tip, isfitted into the clamping spring between the prongs, P, thereof, by whichit is held. The clamping spring, with the tip thus attached, is theninserted in the ferrule, the tongues, 4: being moved in linelongitudinally with the lateral openings, 2", thereof, until they reachsaid openings. Pressure is then applied to the outer end of the tip,thereby causing the tongues,

4, to engage the openings, 2", and the prongs, 4", of the spring areforced into the tip by the bearing of the outside tapering prongs, 4, ofthe spring on the Wall of the ferrule. The tip is then firmly locked'inposition for use, in which position it will be seen that it seats andbears longitudinally only on the outer end of the reduced portion of thecue.

The tip may be readily detached wheneverdesired,bythe use of a springkey, 5, of the character shown in Fig. 10, this being a plate ofresilient material, bent into V form, and having inwardlyturned pressingfeet, 5 on itsends. By inserting the pressing feet into the lateralopenings, 2, of the ferrule, and pressing the arins'of the springkeyinwardly, the tongues, e, of the clamping spring are released fromthe openings, and the spring and attached tip can be withdrawnthroughthe open outer end of the ferrule. The tip can then be easily pulled outof the clamping spring.

Fig. 8 illustrates a structural modification of the ferrule, by theapplication of which the tip maybe attached to, or detached from, thecue, without removing the clamping spring from the ferrule. To this end,two supplemental opposite openings, 2, adapted to receive the tongues,.tofthe clamping spring, are formed in the outer shell of the ferrule,sufficiently far from the primary openings, 2", to permit the clampingspring, after having been compressed by the key, to be drawn out farenough to cause the outer end of the spring to project outwardly "fromthe ferrule. When so moved,- the tongues, of the spring, willengage thesupplemental openings, 2, and the grip of the prongs, 4- 011 theprojection, 3, of

the tip, will be sufliciently released to enable the tip to be-easilydetached fromthe spring. 7 The latter will be firmly held while a tip isI claim as my invention and desire to so cure by Letters Patent: .7 7

1. The combination of a cue; a double shelled ferrule fixed. thereon; aclamping spring interposed between the shells of the ferrule anddetachably'engaging the outer shell; and a tip, abutting directly on theend of the cue and 'detachably connected to the clamping spring. p

2. The combination of a cue; a ferrule having an inner shell, fixed onthe cue, and a connected outer shell; a longitudinally divided sleeveclamping spring, interposed between the shells of the ferrule,and-detachably engaging the outer shell; and a tip, abuttingdirectly onthe end of the cue, and detachably connected to the clamping rr e- I a3. A ferrule for cue and tip connection, comprising an inner shell whichis open both ends and adapted to be fitted on a one; and an encirclingouter shell, which is open at one end, and connected, at the other, to vEDMOND n. FOURNIER.

lvitnessesz I i THOMAS E HIGGINS,

JOHN H. LUKEY.

